Review of Sergeants 3 (1962) by Jeremy S — 26 May 2010

"Sergeants 3" was John Sturges' first western after his classic oater "The Magnificent Seven," and the second remake of George Steven's immortal British military movie "Gunga Din" with Cary Grant. You can easily see why "Sergeants 3" has few of the classic qualities of "The Magnificent Seven." Frank Sinatra's Essex Productions made this comic outdoors cavalry yarn, and the first half of this 112 minute sagebrusher surpasses the second halfâ??lensed primarily on Samuel Goldwyn's Hollywood sound stages with obvious backdrops. Naturally, the Rat Packâ??Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, and Sammy Davis, Jr star in this rip-roaring fracas of a western that resembles one of John Ford's cavalry pictures. The sensational scenery around Kanab, Utah, is wonderful to look at and three-time Oscar winner Winton Hoch's widescreen cinematography proves to be a definite plus.

The action opens in the isolated town of Medicine Bend when renegade Indians belonging to a fraction called the Ghost Dancers massacre the town. Before they manage to kill everyone, the whites manage to wire the U.S. Cavalry and Col. William Collingwood (Dick Simmons) dispatches a detail of troopers under the command of Sergeant Mike Merry (Frank Sinatra of "Ocean's 11"), Sergeant Chip Deal (Dean Martin of "Some Came Running"), and Sergeant Larry Barrett (Peter Lawford of "Good News") to check things out. Our heroes arrive in time to shoot it out with the Indians and blow up some Indians. In the process, Sinatra gets to do some riding and shooting, something that he'd never done in a movie. The money scene occurs in a careening, runaway wagon when Sinatra and Martin tangle with a few Indians, and Sinatra is struck, falls off the wagon, and clings to the wagon as it drags him along and performs an abbreviated version of the famous Yakima Canutt stunt in "Stagecoach." Yes, that's really Frank Sinatra being dragged under the wagon.

The second half concerns Barrett's decision to leave the service and marry Amelia Parent (Ruta Lee) and the shenanigans of Merry and Deal to thwart his plans to wed, return to the East, and read law. One of those antics involves finding the hiding place of those savages who wiped out Medicine Bend. In the middle of all this is Jonah Williams (Sammy Davis, Jr) who desperately wants to be a trooper. Billy May's music is so tame that you could put yourself to sleep listening to it. Elmer Bernstein might have injected some life into the proceedings. The cavalry clash with the Indians and the funny ending made the second half bearable. Henry Silva is good as the villainous Mountain Hawk.